Wealth(3)
Sharon’s exquisite little face immediately filled up with a dazzling glow, as if she was a little girl talking about her favourite toy, “Why not? I looted those wretched things blind. They used to run away before they even saw me, letting me go and gather their treasures without having to fight, but now they’re acting strange. An old fellow is leading the way, and now they don’t escape. They don’t even gather treasures! Every time I go visit them all I see is a completely barren nest, and a dragon giving me a helplessly weak gaze!”
At that point, the mage’s expression grew vicious. “Can you imagine a dragon looking at you like it’s a weakling? Did they really think I wouldn’t slaughter them?” she said through gritted teeth.
“You didn’t just kill them all?” Gaton enquired, baffled.
“No! Not even one!” Sharon ground her teeth, “I already robbed that old guy thirteen times, and he knows me very well. That’s why it told the others that I wouldn’t kill them as long as they didn’t resist. At most, I’d just beat them up. I already have enough dragon materials on hand, and I basically can’t use them all. There’s no need for me to replenish my stock right now. That sly old bastard!”
“So you’re creating a weyr…” Gaton went deep into thought. He rubbed hard at his short beard, completely unaware that he was using too much strength and pulling out quite a few hairs.
Sharon’s voice rose an entire octave, “Yes! Since those lazy things aren’t planning to go find treasure, they should at least work and fight for me! I don’t think there are any dragons that should just eat and sleep all day! Once my weyr is done, I’ll stuff them all inside and let those lazy bones know that there’s a greater legendary being in this world, and she’s the boss!”
Gaton squinted until his eyes narrowed into slits, speaking slowly, “Do you mean you’ll be able to summon the dragons in your weyr for battle?”
Sharon seemed completely oblivious to Gaton’s probing, elated to show off her new toy, “Of course! Once the weyr is done, I’ll be able to summon a fair number of them in one go. My enemies definitely won’t expect real dragons in the middle of all the magic ones! Even as they’re dying, they’ll just wonder why my summons could fight for so long on the battlefield. Hehe, HAHAHA!”
The corner of Gaton’s eyes twitched, and he stated calmly, “Your Excellency, this Summon Weyr spell… It should be your greatest secret…”
“That’s fine! It isn’t a problem for you to know, or for anyone else! I’ll have so many dragons, and I’ll be so powerful anyway. What’s the point in hiding my strength?” Sharon’s eyes were bright as morning stars.
Gaton could only laugh wryly in response. So what if her enemies weren’t surprised by her techniques? Even if the dragons were expected, there would be so many of them. What was one to do in that situation?
This was another famous saying of the legendary mage. When one could look down on the enemy’s strategy, they could also disregard their tactics.
“Um, Your Excellency…” Gaton was still unwilling to lose, trying to probe out any weaknesses, “This weyr of yours will be very powerful, but it would cost a lot to bui—” Before he could finish speaking, even Gaton himself realised he had nothing to contribute to that conversation. The immense cost was nothing to Sharon. With that forest of energy absorption trees, building a weyr was merely an issue of time, not cost.
“But maintaining the weyr would need so many resources. Dragons are huge eaters,” he immediately changed tracks.
“That’s true!” Sharon actually agreed, nodding vehemently. She then used her little hand to viciously smack Gaton in the back, nearly beating the sturdy man to the ground, “Don’t worry, you’ll be in charge of their food!”
“Me? WHY ME?!” Gaton yelled. This wasn’t the first time such a thing was happening.
He’d gone to great lengths on numerous expeditions, nurturing a batch of courageous elites and powerful, bloodthirsty generals. He’d gained control of numerous planes in a short span of time, and was nearly done with an expedition into a secondary plane as well. This was truly an immortal feat to anyone in Norland. However, regretfully he still wasn’t considered wealthy, having to worry about supplies for every war.
Much of his wealth flowed into the purse of this legendary mage next to him, and always in a manner that he could not understand. While this didn’t affect the benefits he gave to his followers to maintain their loyalty, his personal funds were nonexistent, not matching up to his current status.
Sharon often sponsored his expeditions. Strategic goods and materiel were cheap, and sometimes she even gave him priceless treasures for free. For instance, the heart of the lesser demon lord that she’d presented to Gaton for Richard’s ceremony wasn’t something that could be measured with money or power. Any of the three major empires would be willing to make her a duke in exchange for the heart. Used only to exchange for time, that sacrifice could grant one 300 to 500 years of life. All monarchs in the mortal world desired immortality the most.
Even so, the tremendous wealth he was acquiring flowed straight into Sharon’s hands. Gaton couldn’t tell whether he was making profit or loss over all their exchanges, only that his debts from that one contract in the past were still ballooning with no signs of stopping. Forget the principal, even the interest he had to pay every year would leave him feeling suffocated.
And now, Sharon was leaving the costs for the dragons’ meals to him. Although the Archeron leader was attempting to fight back, he knew that would all be in vain. When it came down to it, the legendary mage never fought a battle she wasn’t confident in.
Sharon made some simple calculations, explaining to Gaton that he had a misunderstanding. In order to pay his interest for the year, he had to feed tens of dragons until they were full, and the quality of the food had to be high as well. Gaton’s face had long since turned dark, but thankfully, none of his underlings could tell.
The few dozen people finally steadied their minds. Once they got used to the high gravity, the dizziness went away.
Most of them were fine, but Lina was not in a good state. The Dragon Mage was still sat on the ground, supporting her chest as she glared fiercely at her companions. The unlucky mage had been stuck at the bottom of them all, crushed under the large berserker Ward and the steel-like Kayde.
They all knew this was Sharon’s semiplane, so they took a curious glance around them the moment they stood up. It was a rare opportunity to see such a place that was only mentioned in legends, especially since it belonged to Sharon. However, when they looked out all they could see was a tall barrier that was nearly dozens of metres tall, with a pitch-black void on top where a few streaks of colour occasionally streaked across.
Some tried to cross the screen, but they were viciously sent flying back. This was Sharon’s home turf, and her power was boosted greatly here. The screen was extremely powerful, and even those who had already crossed into the realm of legendaries would be sent flying back. What could one expect from Gaton’s underlings?